Labour is planning to step up its attacks on the Tories despite the furious row which has erupted over a tweet accusing Rishi Sunak of not supporting the jailing of child sex offenders.
HuffPost UK can reveal that the party has held talks with political allies in America and Australia over how to take the fight to the Conservatives in the run-up to the next election.
One senior figure said: “Their entire 13 year record is up for grabs next year - from the horrors of the NHS to the failures on crime.”
Keir Starmer is under pressure to delete and apologise for the incendiary tweet, which was posted by labour yesterday, which says: “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t.”
It includes a photo of the PM and his signature.
The graphic points to Ministry of Justice figures showing 4,500 people convicted of sexually assaulting children under the age of 16 escaped jail “under the Tories”.
But the figures date back to 2010 – five years before Sunak even became an MP.
In an unusual move, Twitter has added a “context” note making clear the Tories do not want to end the jailing of child sex offenders.
The tweet has come in for a wave of criticism from across the political spectrum, including from former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who said: “We are better than this.”
In an excruciating interview on BBC Breakfast this morning, shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell repeatedly refused to say she personally supported the tweet.
But HuffPost UK has learned that defiant Labour officials are unrepentant - and are willing to repeat the stunt as the countdown continues next year’s general election.
One source said: “Sunak never condemned Johnson when he accused Keir of letting Jimmy Savile off - so fuck him.
“What’s the difference between this and what he says every single week about ‘Starmer voted against tougher sentences’, or when he said Keir was ‘the friend of people traffickers’?
“We’re not prepared to be the mopes anymore, while the Tories say whatever they want.
“Their entire 13 year record is up for grabs next year - from the horrors of the NHS to the failures on crime.”
Labour has held talks with strategists in the Australian Labor Party, which won last year’s election in the country, and US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party.
“They told us to ignore the wailings of the people who expect you to be kind losers and fight as viciously as the Conservatives do,” a source said.
Later on Friday, a fresh post on Twitter suggested the Conservative Party is weak on firearms offences.
Using the same format as the heavily-criticised first poster, it asks: “Do you think an adult convicted of possessing a gun with intent to harm should go to prison?”
Before answering, “Rishi Sunak doesn’t”, and adding Sunak’s signature.
It includes the statistic: “Under the Tories 937 adults convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to harm served no prison time. Labour will lock up dangerous gunmen.”
Labour and the Tories have put crime-fighting plans at the heart of their campaigns for the local elections on May 4.
Starmer repeated his promise to halve levels of violence against women and girls as he met with charities supporting victims in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, yesterday.
Meanwhile Sunak has announced a crackdown on grooming gangs to protect young women and girls from sexual abuse, with measures including a new police taskforce of specialist officers and the collection of ethnicity data.